From Winter to Spring
by FandomHigh
Summary: Jackson Overland-Frost is your regular high school senior. He lives in a small town where nothing exciting ever happens; except the childrens' events that he and his friends put on. When an artistic transfer student from Australia comes to town, Jack finds himself caught between schoolwork and romance. Not to mention the Children's Fair is just a few months away... (BunnyFrost)
1. Prolouge

**Prolouge**

"What's this about, Mr. Moon?"

"Well, kids, we're getting a transfer from Australia.

"Ah, we know. You say over announ-cement."

"Yes, well, I didn't want everyone to see this."

"Is this his file, sir? Are we even allowed to read it? We won't get in trouble, will we?"

"Calm yourself, Tooth. You really think he'd let us read it if we weren't allowed?"

"Now, now, kids. You're not getting what I wanted to show you."

"Let's see... Community service? Easter egg hunts, Children's Art Fairs..."

"That is what we are needing! She will make excellent addition!"

"Oh, now I get it! You think she can help us with this year's?"

"Well, yes. I've heard that **he **is an accomplished artist, and loves children as much as you all do."

"Oh, another boy..? I'm feeling a little outnumbered... Well, it's for the kids, right?"

"C'mon, guys, we gotta get to class. Sandy, can you think up a plan for..."

Once the group was out of earshot, Mr. Moon simply laughed.

"These kids don't know what they're in for." He sat back in his chair, flipping through the rest of the new student's file.


	2. Chapter 1

{AN: Titiana Green is Toothiana. Jamie and Sophie are Jack's siblings.}

**Late September**

The snow covered hills, surprisingly, never loom over him, despite how large they are. Instead, they give him a sense of safety, of welcoming; he has loved snow ever since he was small.

Though he longs to frolick (even if it sounds girly) through the patches of snow and roadside slush while it lasts (because let's face it, it never lasts long enough), he knows he needs to be on time to class. He can tell his three year old sister feels the same of the winter wonderland by the way she tries to paw at the window and squeals every now and again.

Jackson Overland-Frost pondered the day with a smile as his Mother, distracted by a business call, pulls into Borger High's recently remodeled parking lot. He absent-mindedly remembers that the transfer student would be here today, but it doesn't exactly stay in his mind as he catches sight of his friends.

Mrs. Frost puts her call on hold to unlock the car doors and give her son a kiss on the cheek, which he reciprocated. "Have a great day, Jackie. Love you, have fun, learn stuff, you know the works." Before he can reply, Sophie pipes up from her carseat. "Work! Jackie work!" Jack flashed his kid sister a smile, blowing her a kiss, then exited the car. "Love you girls. Tell Jamie I said get better!"

He shut the door as gently as he could, and Mrs. Frost drove away, Sophie waving like mad in the back seat. With a chuckle, Jack turned towards the red Hummer that belonged to his good friend, Nicholas North Jr. His eyes light up as the three figures in the car stepped out, waving to him with warm smiles.

"Jack, good morning!" The first to call out to him is Titiana Green; In seconds, the petite girl is by his side, giving him a hug, her pixie cut green hair tickling his nose. "Morning, Tooth. Like the new hair color." The next to reach him took a much less gentle way of greeting; Nicholas scooped his friend into a bear hug, Jack's spine letting out a few involuntary cracks.

"Good morning, comrade! You dream well, ah?" Jack chuckled a little, knowing that the Russian teen was still working on his English, signaled for the Center of the football team to let him down. Once he was confident in his two feet again, Jack responded with a grin. "Yeah, I _slept _fine, North."

By this time, the last of their group had been patiently awaiting his turn to greet his friend. Sanderson Mansnoozie waved to his oldest friend, and Jack raised a hand for the blond boy to high-five, which he did with a wide smile. During this, North muttered to himself "Slept, slept, slept..." as a means to memorize this new word.

Titiana, or 'Tooth', smiled at her silly friends, until she noticed the clock. "Oh, guys!" Three sets of eyes turned to give their attention. "We should head to assembly; We don't want to be late again..." She shot Jack a teasing look, to which he grinned playfully in return. "And be stuck with auditorium cleaning duty..." At this, her gaze turned to North, who smiled unashamedly and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Because soooooomeone," Jack cut in cheerily, pushing Tooth towards the auditorium, the other two walking behind with silent laughter. "Won't stop talking! C'mon, I'll race you!" Jack set off at a jog. Tooth giggled and, with a shake of her head, took off after him.

The principal of the school, a man who most every student respected (surprisingly), walked up to the mic. Mr. Moon glanced over his students with a smile, before gaining the silence that usually followed his presence. "Good morning, everyone!" A chorus of near five-hundred voices echoed a greeting of some kind.

Mr. Moon smiled wider, happy that everyone was on their best behavior; that was essential for their newest student, he mused to himself. "Well, I believe you heard me announce yesterday that we would have a transfer student for a few short months; I'm glad to correct myself." The students looked quizically back at him, and he searched their faces for a moment before his gaze wandered to Jack's group.

The group of four noticed, and brightened their smiles just for their beloved principal. His gazed softened for his (in his opinion) best students, before turning back to the rest of the school, which had become somewhat restless.

Clearing his throat, Mr. Moon continued his announcement. "Our newest student's family is moving here from Australia! He'll be attending for the rest of the year!" There was an obvious uproar of cheering; Not many things this big happened in a small town like theirs.

"Now, without further ado, I should introduce him; Or rather, let him introduce himself." Mr. Moon stepped away from the microphone, and gestured to someone who couldn't be seen behind a curtain. The darkness of the auditorium didn't help everyone's curiosity either.

A rather tall figure walked out when summoned, and was given a friendly pat on the shoulder by the kindly principal. The crowd had been chattering away, starting to lose interest in the long introduction. As soon as the taller male walked into the spotlight, however, all conversation stopped.

There was almost a dead silence in the room; The group of friends in Mr. Moon's affections were unnaturally quiet as well, seeing how no one could take their eyes off of the boy- No, the man onstage.

Jack was sure, by this point, that his jaw was hanging open. He knew that he had only seen men this attractive in magazines, whether it be modeling clothes or as a celebrity. He took his time drinking in the newcomer, which he knew from the deafening quiet, that everyone else was doing as well.

Standing upright at 6'1", the Australian had slightly brown sun-kissed skin with obvious muscles everywhere; Jack could tell he was ripped even through the gray sweater he wore under an unzipped, heavy brown jacket. He dared his eyes to venture lower and was not disappointed. Powerful legs were partially covered by khaki shorts that showed even more of that wonderful tanned skin.

His hair was grey-blue, not quite either color, and it looked amazingly soft to the touch. It was waved, much like the surfers you see on T.V., and ended around his ears. His eyes were slightly narrowed, and although Jack couldn't see the color, he knew they had to be endless. The Aussie somewhat glared at his audience, arms crossed over his chest as his flat nose seemed to twitch in irritation, his full lips turned down into a small scowl.

Obviously ingnoring his 'admirers', the handsome man cleared his throat into the microphone rather loudly, causing quite a few people to jump out of their trances. "G'day. The name's E. Aster Bunnymund. Just call me Bunny." Bunny stopped to pass a glare to the more manly looking men that snickered; it was mostly the football team. "If y'think that's funny, lemme know. I'll be happy to explain to ya why you should shut yer trap." He cracked his knuckles, and the boys immediately quieted.

He sighed, clearly hating every second he was in the spolight. "I'm from Brisbane, Australia. My Mom, Pop, and two siblings are here with me." A glance back at Mr. Moon reminded Bunny of what he was supposed to say next. "I play soccer, and I'm bloody good at it. I'm also an artist. I'm tops at that, too." He smirked slightly, almost like a challenge for anyone to call him out.

No one did. There was still silence from the crowd. Bunny dipped his head slightly in approval. An expression of rememberance crossed his face, before he shoved a hand into his shorts pocket, holding up a crumpled piece of paper much like a trophy.

"The last thing I'm telling ya is something my Mom wrote down. A little...instruction manual, if ya will." He chuckled at this, then cleared his throat again, reading from the note. "G'day! First thing I'm tellin' ya is that ya have two options with my boy. Y'like him or y'hate him. There's not a lotta inbetween." Bunny smiled to himself as he read the next part.

"My son's gotta lotta patience, God knows where from, but I'd advise against testin' it. One a the reasons we're moving is 'cause of what he did to the last bloke that tried pullin' one over. My advice?" He shoved the paper back in his pocket, his arms going back to their crossed default.

"Don't mess with an ornery Aussie. Love, Kareela Bunnymund."


	3. Chapter 2

As soon as the assembly had ended, E. Aster Bunnymund found himself surrounded by women. He stiffened his posture, making sure not to let one of them behind him. Bunny knew what could happen when women liked a man, and it sure wasn't pretty. Each and every one of them was talking at once, and Bunny could swear he was going deaf.

"Hey!" All of the women, including Bunny, swiveled around to find the source of the male voice. Bunny was simply shocked by what he saw, and he knew he wasn't the only one enjoying the view; a few of the girls surrounding him swooned.

A little farther down the hallway was a group of students; four from the looks of it. He barely registered the female and two other males of his rescuers, almost physically unable to tear his gaze away from the smirking teen in dead center.

Bunny took the opportunity of half of the crowd paying attention to his main saviour, asking and answering his questions, to give him a head to toe sweep. Roughly about 5'9", with a lithe yet athletic figure, stood a boy with the purest white hair he had ever seen; it looked like freshly fallen snow, and Bunny simply wanted to reach out and comb his fingers through it.

He vaugely noticed a snowflake design hoodie and tattered jeans. At this distance (only five feet away), Bunny could make out blue eyes. They were almost every shade of blue he could imagine, and they were so bright and full of life. Bunny only realized he had been staring when lovely blue met emerald green. And his breath hitched.

Jack talked with the girls for a little while, possibly helping the new guy escape. He didn't seem to catch on to the plan, however; Jack almost frowned, but he revitalized his smile, doubling his niceness for the girls surrounding him.

After feeling eyes boring into his very frame for a little while (maybe a minute), Jack had the sense to look up. And man alive, was he glad he did. The eyes that stared a hole through his face belonged to none other than the handsome (hot), rugged (so, so hot) transfer student.

Jack faltered mid-sentence, caught up in the eyes he could finally see. Dark greens pierced the first layer, and at least three other light greens softened his look. They reminded him of Spring, of the first bits of nature coming up from the earth after a hard winter, feirce and strong.

When the girls started quieting, questioning his behavior, Jack knew he had to think of something fast; he managed to snap out of his haze long enough to remember plan B that would save them both. He only hoped that his new 'friend' wouldn't hate him for it.

With an almost practiced art, Jack let an expression of realization cross his face, then broke out into a wide grin. "Aster?" He quickly made his way through the crowd, flinging his arms around Bunny like he was greeting an old friend, which was what he planned to act out.

"Holy hell, dude!" Jack laughed, looking up at his rescuee, hoping he'd understand **this** plan at least. "When did you get so tall? That's so not fair!" Bunny seemed to understand this time, and with a quick glance somewhere behind the crowd of gaping women, let his face warm with a smile. He threw his arms around Jack's middle, giving a light squeeze.

Bunny chuckled, the sound making Jack's heart flutter, and gave the shorter male a noogie. "Not my fault, Frostbite. Blame genetics; mostly that your's made you a pipsqueak." Jack pulled away slightly, glaring playfully up at his 'old friend'. "Whatever, Kangaroo." He then broke into a smile, grabbing Bunny's hand and giving a pull. "C'mon, you've got to meet my friends!"

Bunny followed Jack like he had known him his entire life, a relaxed smile on his lips, another line of teasing banter escaping him. "You have friends? That's surprising." The sea of dumbstruck girls parted before them, and with a signal to move on from Jack, the group of five headed to their claimed part of campus: Mr. Moon's old office.

Only once the door closed behind the last person did Jack let go of Bunny's hand. The smaller male immediately breathed a sigh of relief that turned into infectuous laughter. Bunny was the last to join in, a few chuckles escaping.

He watched as Jack finally stifled his laughter, rubbing a sore side, then looked to Bunny with a grin. "I can't believe that actually worked." Jack snickered at this, plopping down on an old plush chair. His other friends took their customary places in the room; Tooth hopped onto the worn mahogany desk, North pulled out a beautifully carved rocking chair and sat in it, and Sandy reached into a box for his favorite pillow and blanket, snuggling up on the floor.

Only Bunny remained standing, and he immediately felt awkward. The other four were staring at him, for some unknown reason, and it made him uneasy. He glanced at Jack, who held his gaze for a second, before breaking out into another trademark grin. "So." Bunny's eyes flickered to the other occupants before settling on Jack again, daring to probe for an answer.

"So... Why'd ya help me out, mate?" Jack smiled somewhat secretly, drumming his fingers on the armrest of the chair. "Because we like you." "'We'?" Bunny couldn't keep the curious tone from his voice. Jack smiled wider, gesturing to Sandy, Tooth, North, and finally, himself. "Mr. Moon told us about you."

Jack stood from his chair, stepping closer to his 'prey'; at least, that's what Bunny felt like at the moment, but like hell he was going to let it show. "Oh yeah? Can I ask what he told ya?" Bunny crossed his arms again, suddenly worried. How much did Mr. Moon know?

North took this time to stand as well, his booming voice warm and thick with his accent. "You love children!" Bunny was taken a little aback. His eyes widened some, but then he relaxed a little, nodding in confirmation. "I...I used to manage the Easter hunts back in Brisbane. Easter egg hunts, that is." He cleared his throat, lightly pulling at the collar of his sweater.

Tooth stepped in, nearly floating over to him. Oddly enough, he realized, she was staring at his mouth. She quickly looked him in the eyes, her purple contacts almost blinding him. With a smile, she continued for her friends. "We love children, too!" Bunny fidgeted a little, somewhat uncomfortable that he didn't understand what was going on.

"Oh? Well, thas'nice I suppose. If ya don't mind me askin'..." Bunny glanced once more at the smiling faces surrounded him, then finished his question. "What're you getting on about?" Jack took this as his cue to step in again, a grin almost breaking his face.

"We're 'getting on' about a childrens' fair! In the Spring! We do it every year, and we really want your help!" Bunny could hear the excitement plain and true in Jack's voice, and it lifted his spirits a little as well; it also gave him an enormous amount of relief to know what they wanted of him wasn't horrid. "Really? That's what yer up and about?" The happy faces around him now reassured him.

"Well, I have to think for a bloody minute, I just got he-Of course I'll help, you pansies. Don't be lookin' all dejected. Crickey." Bunny now sported a small smirk; he had only said the first bit to see their reactions, and their almost-rejected faces were somewhat funny, and somewhat hard to bear.

Jack jumped back to his excited self, nearly bouncing in place. "So, are you in?" Bunny pretended to think about it a for a second, before growing his own grin, sticking out a large, calloused hand for a handshake. "I'm in."

The bell unfortunately rang at this point; it startled Bunny with its shrillness. When he settled down, he noticed that everyone was packing up their things to head to class. Something dawned on him; He'd never actually gotten the name of his saviour, save for his last name when the shorter, blond boy had held up a sign. When they'd thought that through, he'd never know.

"Uh, before ya leave.." Bunny almost froze when everyone looked at him confusedly, instead of just the teen he'd been eyeing. He coughed, forcing himself to look casual. "I never got your names, y'know." Jack smiled again, and pointed to the largest male in the room.

"Nicholas North, Jr. Center of the football team and master woodcarver." Jack pointed the rocking chair for effect, North smiling all the while. "I am Russian, still learn English. Call me North, new comrade." Bunny nodded, and Jack continued down the list.

"Titiana Green, or Tooth. Student Council secretary and future pediatric dentist." Tooth smiled wide, her eyes once again going to his mouth. "I saw you have the most wonderful bicuspids..." Bunny gave her an awkward smile, making a point of keeping his mouth closed.

"That's Sanderson Mansnoozie, or Sandy for short. He's considered the head of the Art department; besides the teacher, of course." Jack let out a small chuckle, and Sandy let out his own silent laugh. "And then there's me."

Bunny raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms again. "Still don't have your first name, mate." Jack grinned a little lopsidedly, a hand reaching around to scratch the back of his head. "Well.. It's Jack. I'm Jack Frost."

Tooth took this time to pipe up, adding her own title for him. "Manages the Art department with Sandy, Borger's favorite babysitter, and, before you came along, the most popular with the ladies." She giggled some, noticing that Jack's face had a certain flush to it.

"Yeah, well, nobody expected him to be such a..." Jack suddenly cut himself off, wide eyed and red faced, and said a hasty goodbye to his friends. He tore out of the room like the devil was on his heels. Bunny made a face, mostly of confusion. Had he said something wrong?

Tooth, however, smiled knowingly (he wondered how much she knew), and asked him to pull out his schedule. "Since you're new, I'll show you to your first class!" She laid a hurrying hand on his shoulder, and pushed him out the door.

Bunny handed her another crumpled piece of paper (he really should be more organized), and while she glanced over it, he watched the other two males walk down the hallway. The short one, Sandy, gave him a wave and a warm smile, before he and North disappeared around the corner.

When he faced Tooth again, she was smiling sympathetically, and had folded his paper back neatly. He looked at his paper, wondering what had given her that look. All he saw was his schedule. First period was English IV AP with...

"Sorry, Bunny. You have Mr. Black first."


	4. Chapter 3

**{AN: Thank you all for your support! I'm so freaking embarrassed; I never thought it would get this popular. I died a little after every review. *cue hiding and blushing* Anyway, I'm sorry about the shorter chapter, but I want to keep these coming as fast as I can!}**

Bunny waved a goodbye to his new friend, who he'd discovered upon her walking him to his class (since hers was only down the hall, by chance), that they had a lot in common. For instance, they both had younger siblings. She lived in a family of five, he in a family of four. Both of their Mothers couldn't deny their children; Tooth because she was the spitting image of the one that bore her, and Bunny because of the don't-give-two-fucks attitude he'd adopted from his own mother.

He chuckled, glad he'd given the future dentist a chance, and walked into his first period classroom. Bunny was greeted with a dark space, the air somewhat chilly, and the teacher, he assumed, was writing something in fine cursive on the chalkboard. Bunny awkwardly stood by the teacher's desk, waiting to be addressed; he had promised his Pop he'd at least try to be respectful to his mentors.

The teacher, Mr. Black, if he remembered correctly, finished whatever he was writing, and without looking to his newest student, spoke in a clipped tone. "You're late." Bunny had a passing memory that the bell had rung on his walk over with Tooth, but he hadn't thought it all that important. As Mr. Black turned around, Bunny gave a half-shrug, meeting his slightly sunken in eyes.

"Sorry, mate. First day and all. Can ya cut me some slack?" From the way the students behind him seemed to hold their breath, Bunny realized he had probably said the wrong thing. Mr. Black smiled; however, it wasn't a cheerful smile at all. It looked sinister, sinful even, and it gave Bunny the worst kind of chills. "Oh, of **course** I can..." Mr. Black's words dripped with sarcasm and venom as he pulled out what looked to be a detention slip. "And what...May I ask...is your name, my dear boy..?"

Bunny had a feeling he should've kept his gob shut, but he was already neck deep in this teacher's shit list. If this prude wanted to play nasty, then so would he. With narrow eyes and a smirk, Bunny crossed his arms and seemingly relaxed (but who actually would in front of this creep?). "Th'name's Gojump...Offa...Bridge." Mr. Black had actually began to write the words before he realized what they said; a few of the students felt brave enough to giggle. No one had ever really stood up to the hardass teacher before.

Mr. Black gripped his pen tightly; Bunny could swear the thing was about to burst, and he would've laughed, had the teacher not looked him straight in the eyes. Bunny felt nothing but coldness in those black depths; Mr. Black's dark hair, ashen skin, and all black attire didn't help whatsoever. Bunny was thoroughly creeped out by this man... And a little threatened, if he was honest. Who in their right mind would let this arse become a teacher?

With a long breath out that seemed to calm him some, Mr. Black released his poor abused black pen, and turned to his computer. The class watched in half-terror, frozen in wonder of what their mentor would do. Mr. Black had apparently found what he was looking for on the computer screen; once again, without looking even in his general direction, Mr. Black addressed Bunny.

"Well, Mr. **Bunnymund**. I believe that your behavior so far is making an **excellent** first impression..." The tall, snarky man turned to face his entire class and barked out in a voice that would have made Bunny jump (had he been of lesser courage). "What are you morons doing?! I told you to read up to Act five of Hamlet; stop lounging around!" Bunny watched as the rest of the class stumbled over themselves to do what their mentor asked; when he turned back around, there was an obnoxious piece of yellow paper almost in his eye.

Bunny took it from Mr. Black with a glare, but the teacher simply smiled evilly again, and gestured to an empty desk in the front row of the class. Bunny sighed to himself; front row meant no goofing off, not to mention an asshole teacher breathing down his damn neck. He walked to his seat much like a man to the gallows, and when he plopped down, he immediately slouched some to make the desk more comfortable for his larger frame.

After not even half a minute of sitting in the quiet room, glaring at the offending detention slip, a smaller (but thick as hell) book nailed him in the side of the head. Bunny grasped his temple with his right hand, and in his left hand, he held the surprisingly heavy new edition of Hamlet. It only took a second of wondering what had just happened for Bunny's narrowed gaze to snap up to a smirking Mr. Black.

"Read to Act five, Mr. Bunnymund." Bunny had about had it with this pretentious dick; he stood from his desk loudly, drawing the attention of everyone else in the room. "Alright you snob, I've had it up to here with your shit and I've only been in this class for five minutes!" Mr. Black smiled wider, the thought of his victory keeping him from sensing the danger radiating from his newest student. "Oh, that's too bad... Too bad that you can't do anything, that is."

Thinking that he had won over the enraged Aussie, Mr. Black turned back to the chalkboard, revising something he'd written on there earlier. Bunny's left eye twitched in his obvious irritation, while he ground his teeth together, debating something internally. He muttered a quick,"Sorry, Pop." to himself before he clenched his hand tight on the book, drew back his arm, and released with all his strength.


	5. Chapter 4

**{AN: ...Wow. Okay, sorry for the lapse of time. I was grounded for a few days. Also, my wonderful girlfriend drew Bunny and Jack. Here's a link! ** kohinaka. deviantart From-Winter-to-Spring-346173112 **(No spaces and add dot com after deviantart)** **One last thing: I love reading your reviews! They put me in such a good mood, really! I love you all!}**

Jack, Sandy, Titiana and North all sat awkwardly outside the principal's office; they weren't in trouble of course. It was lunchtime, and and the newest addition to their group hadn't been seen since fourth period. Only after Tooth had learned through the school grapevine that Bunny had been sent to see Mr. Moon did they halt their campus-wide search.

Sighing again for what seemed to be the hundreth time in the past minute (at least to the others in the group), Jack finally raised himself from his chair and stealthily pressed his ear against Mr. Moon's door, despite his friends' better judgement and not so quiet whispers (and a silent scolding from Sandy) to not eavesdrop.

He did it anyway, and the others gave up at this point, knowing they wouldn't get him away from his point of interest without a fight. The sounds coming from the other side of the door both confused and relieved Jack, and he motioned for the others to join him; reluctantly, they agreed.

"Hahahahaaaa! Okay, okay what was his reaction?!"

"Alright, mate; I'll go frame by frame. First, it was pain."

"Naturally, naturally.. Then it dawned on him?"

"Not quite yet. Next was utter confusion, like the bastard never felt pain before!"

"Haha! What next?"

"Then was'the dawning moment; priceless, I swear!"

"Oh dear sweet Gaia, I wish I could've seen it!"

"Tha's not all, see, he turns immediately t'me with this face like 'You seriously did that?' like he didn't deserve it; which he bloody well did."

"Oh, I know. Believe me. I know."

"Then he just looks at me with all the hate he can muster and I swear, the temp in the room just dropped a few degrees!"

"Oh Gaia. Is that all?"

"Nope! Last thing he does before he leaves the room, and doesn't come back, mind ya, is stares me down and says 'You...little...shit.'. I've never laughed harder in my life, though I waited till he was out of the room."

Bunny sat comfortably in a plush chair across from Mr. Moon's own. On his face was a wide, shit-eating grin. Mr. Moon, on the other hand, was clutching his stomach and mouth, trying desperately not to laugh any louder than he had been. Giving a few coughs to stifle his fit of laughter, Mr. Moon reached down from his perch on his own desk, and gripped Bunny's shoulder with one hand.

"Bunnymund, I owe you." With a satisfied sigh, the exhausted principal plopped rather uncerimoniously into his own plush chair, pulling a pristine file from one of the desk's drawers. "While I've got you here, can I check to see if the information we recieved from your old school is correct?"

Lazily stretching his arms, Bunny kept the grin on his face, relaxing back into the chair more to stretch his legs as well. "Sure mate. Never had a bloke laugh so hard at one a my stories before." Mr. Moon looked rather sheepish for a moment, then cleared his throat and read out of the now open file.

"Full name, Elias Aster Bunnymund?" Bunny grimaced at the sound of his first name, but nodded his assent anyway. "Age.." Mr. Moon looked up from the piece of paper like it had grown a head. "Nineteen?" Bunny gave a half smile to the principal, then found a piece of carpet particularly interesting. "That's right."

Mr. Moon paused for a moment, looking up at the suddenly reserved student. "May I ask why?" Fidgeting in his seat for a moment, Bunny looked up and answered in a calm voice that betrayed his outward behavior. "Started late. Mom didn't wanna let me go." Seeing how uncomfortable Bunny was, the kindly principal moved on.

"Year, senior, obviously. Record of...five fights your first week of school. What, a fight a day?" Mr. Moon tried to joke with Bunny, hopefully bringing back the proud kid that sat before him minutes ago. It had somewhat worked; the Aussie smiled at his attempt, sending a reply without hesitation. "Nah, mate. All in one day. Don't ya see these muscles?"

Mr. Moon chuckled a little, immediately regretted the decision, and held his side before continuing. "Ow. Moving on, seven awards for painting contests." Bunny nodded once again, resisting the urge to yawn out of lack of sleep. "The only contests I entered, ta boot." The principal smiled, and with a quick glace over the rest of the file, snapped it shut and put it back under his desk.

The Australian fidgeted in his chair again, glacing towards the cherry wood door. Mr. Moon took pity on the bored boy, and reclining in his chair, motioned to the exit. Bunny jumped up and started to make his way out of the room, before he paused with his hand a few inches from the doorknob. Without turning to face the older man again, Bunny spoke in a rather quiet voice.

"If you don't mind me asking.. Why were you so happy about me hittin' Black with a book?" Mr. Moon smiled at the back of his student, flicking his gaze to a picture at the corner of the room. "You have brothers, don't you?" It only took Bunny a moment to piece the information together, and with a grin, he opened the door.

And was immediately toppled by his new friends.

For a moment, Jack had no idea what had happened. One second he was leaning against a door, the next he was laying on a very attractive Australian, if only partially. He couldn't exactly revel in this fact, however. Maybe it was because of the winded look on said Australian's face. Maybe it was because of Tooth sitting on his ankle, which he felt was twisting a weird way.

Or maybe it was because they had been caught eavesdropping. Jack quickly slapped a smile on his face, on the complete opposite spectrum of Bunny, who's scowl could send even a tiger running. "Uh...Hi Aster!" Bunny's eye twitched in irritation, and Jack knew he had said the wrong thing.

"First off, all you curious dingbats... Getoff me already!" With one particularly hard shove, Bunny had managed to shove all four of his aquaintences quite a bit away from him, and he stood, looking for all the worlds livid. "And secondly..."

Jack felt eyes burning into him, but he didn't dare look up from his new spot on the floor; he didn't exactly have a choice in the matter, though, because a strong arm grabbed the front of his hoodie, and then he was off the ground. He couldn't help but look into blazing emeralds, and apparently Bunny took that as a sign to continue.

"Just where the hell do you get off callin' me Aster? The first time, you were bloody lucky I needed your help or I would've punched you in the gut." Jack was afraid at first, but his fear was short lived. Mr. Moon had come out from his office to try and placate Bunny, to no avail. Suddenly, Jack's fear turned to anger. Was this really how he was going to play?

Bunny knew exactly when Jack got angry. While his own eyes were hot as fire, Jack's grew as cold as a slab of ice. He didn't have time to react before a cold hand slapped him across the face. Bunny was in such shock, that his hand loosened on Jack's hoodie, and Jack had two feet on the ground once again. "I'm so **sorry**, you fucking Kangaroo. I'll be more courteous next time." Mr. Moon had since given up on stopping the boys, watching dutifully like a hawk in case a full on fight broke out.

Jack had punctuated his last statement with a curtsey, of all things, and Bunny wanted to punch the living daylights out of him. Who the hell did he think he was? He was a bloody, no good show pony! Taking a deep breath to calm himself, which didn't work as well as he'd hoped, considering his cheek was still stinging, Bunny crossed his arms and glared right back at Jack for a tense, minute long silence.

"You're bloody lucky you're cute, Frostbite." He'd finally said, and with that (was it a threat, or...?), he stalked by the rest of the now standing group, and was down the hallway before anyone could get a word out.

Bunny had left behind a bewildered, halfway pleased, kind of annoyed Jack.


	6. Chapter 5

**{AN: Sorry for not updating in so long; for a while, I had no idea what to do with this chapter! But thank you all once again for your reviews!}**

Walking into seventh period was awkward, to say the least. Sandy had taken the liberty of walking with Bunny to their sixth period (Painting and Sketching Techniques), seeing as they shared a couple classes during the day and had bonded some over the course of fourth period (College-level Government). Bunny had quickly started picking up Sandy's hand motions and quick doodles (he always carried a notepad around with him), and was able to converse with him (about art and family matters) rather easily.

Even with their good start and easy friendship, Sandy sincerely doubted he could 'talk' Bunny out of a fight; the reason for the fight starting? Jack Frost, naturally. Sandy silently cursed himself for not remembering to tell Bunny that they shared their Anatomy class with Titiana and, of course, Jack.

Sandy looked back and forth between his friends for a reaction, and thankfully it wasn't as bad as he expected. Bunny's mouth tugged down into a scowl from its recent smile, his eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms, walking over to where Tooth was waving for him to sit down; the desks the four of them would share were arranged into a square shape, with Tooth sitting across from Jack. Sandy quickly took a seat next to Jack, smiling wide as if he were oblivious, and Bunny took a seat next to Tooth, pointedly ignoring Jack.

Jack's reaction, however, was exactly what Sandy expected. He resisted the urge to facepalm when Jack's face was overtaken by his cheshire-like grin. Sandy had known the moment he saw Jack gawking (mouth open, almost drooling) at Bunny in the auditorium that he'd been helplessly attracted to the Australian. He could only hold in his equivilent of a laugh as North and Tooth noticed as well.

Now that they had had their little spat, however, Sandy wasn't sure how welcoming of Jack's advances Bunny would be. Jack was an odd case, Sandy thought with a small smile. He could really only like someone that challenged him. Bunny had, unwittingly of course, given Jack all the more incentive to tease him (Jack's version of flirting). Sandy shook his head a little, not drawing attention to himself, wondering if their clashing personalitites would be too incompatible.

After the teacher, Mrs. Rain, had come by and dropped off a small labeling worksheet for the group did Bunny finally give Jack any attention; it was clear the constant staring had been grating on his nerves. "What in the blazes are ya starin' at, Frostbite?" Jack never let the grin drop off his face, leaning to rest his head in a hand propped up on the table.

Tooth and Sandy watched them intently, though they were oblivious to anyone but each other (the room was slowly being smothered in sexual tension), and Jack finally responded, his words lazy, a light drawl punctuating his speech. "So.. You think I'm cute..?"

Bunny's eye twitched before he sighed, seemingly chewing on his next sentence. "Is that really all that stuck with ya? Ya rubbed me wrong back there; I don't like pryin' ears..." Jack's grin took a small lewd turn, which Bunny could catch from a mile away. "Or pryin' eyes, ya whacker." Jack finally dropped his grin into a sleepy smile, closing his eyes as if to take a nap in the middle of their conversation.

"Sorry, Bunny. Didn't think a talking Kangaroo would take his name the wrong way." Any hope that Sandy had for the two of them to end today peacefully was thrown out the window. Tooth nearly facepalmed, but continued to watch the two bickering. Bunny's eyes narrowed some, obviously not open to the taunting. He scowled and, probably without thinking, retaliated the only way he knew; with a pointed insult.

"Says the walking freeze-pop with a smart mouth and no idea when to shut it."

* * *

_'You have no idea when to shut yer mouth, do ya boy?!' _

Jack's eyes flew open. No, that wasn't what Bunny said. It was close enough to..._his_ anger that the words had more bite than was intended...probably. Jack only realized he had gripping the desk so tight his knuckles had lost color when Sandy had started pulling at his hand, snapping him out of his trance. He started to give Sandy an apologetic look, telling him not to worry, when he glanced up at Bunny.

Though he was trying to hide it, Jack could see that Bunny was curious as to what had caused his little incident. He wasn't sure, but Jack thought he could see worry in his eyes as well. That was quickly snuffed out, however; Bunny had probably realized who he was worried about. Out of the corner of his vision, Jack could vaguely see Tooth talking to him. Jack was then struck by how quiet it was, and the why was close behind in his mind.

Jack's hearing slowly came back, a ringing noise, high and bright, reverberated through every part of his brain. He could slowly hear more of Tooth's voice, calling his name quietly as not to alert the teacher, but enough to get his attention. Once he felt steady in his voice, he responded to her, his voice with much less volume than usual. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm here."

Relief crossed her face, relaxing the wrinkles Jack thought she shouldn't have while so young. "Good. I was worried, Jack." He smiled at her, not really all there. "Don't be. I'm alright." "Doesn't look that way, Frostbite." Jack snapped his head up to Bunny, surprised he'd added his own input, before another smile (this time, he meant it) graced his features. "I'm fine, Kangaroo. Glad to see you worry about me."

Bunny scoffed, his glare not holding the gravity it had a few moments ago; if one squinted, they could see a smirk on the verge of appearing. "Yeah right. You're still a stranger ta me. Just don't want yer bloody corpse in the room. Gangly mess you are." Jack coughed, choking back a bit of laughter. If only Bunny knew that he'd responded to his game. Jack widened his smile, really meaning it, and gave the still-worried Sandy a pat on the shoulder and flashed Tooth a thumbs up.

Before even attempting to start on his work (which he should have started twenty minutes ago), Jack looked up at Bunny one last time, a worn pencil rocking between his index and middle fingers. Bunny looked up from his own worksheet, giving Jack his attention, if only a little. "So...Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

He'd earned a stare for that question, and to be frank, Bunny's face was closed off this time. He couldn't get a single thought or emotion from him. Jack grew slightly nervous, wondering what he'd said wrong this time. He glanced back to his paper, thoughts of today running through his head; okay, maybe slapping this guy wasn't the best way to get on his good side, but he'd deserved it. Sort of. Okay, not really. He hadn't actually hit Jack, but Bunny had seemed very threatening...

"For the spying, yes. For the slap, no. I'll have to get even with ya for that." When Jack looked at him again, Bunny had an elbow resting on the table, the hand not writing down answers fiddling with his hair. He was also sporting a playful sort of look that had Jack's heart racing, his face lightly flushing, and a grin spreading across his face.

Tooth and Sandy just sent each other knowing looks, trying to hide their own smiles at the two shamelessly flirting with each other. Jack had eaten up and lost interest in just about every cute guy or girl interested in him the past few years. But this time was different.

This time, Jack would be the prey. And Bunny would be the predator.


	7. Chapter 6

**{AN: Thank you all once again for your kind words! I love you all so much! *tears of joy*}**

The next week was somewhat of a blur, in Jack's opinion. Classes that usually made him fall asleep were passing quicker than normal, and lunch was even shorter. The time might've passed slower, had Jack not been laughing so much. Jack was a prankster by nature, and played jokes on other people as a sort of inauguration to friendship; and just like he did with North, Sandy, and Tooth, Jack subjected Bunny to suffer through them.

It didn't help to halt Jack's 'ceremony' when he found out that Bunny made the cutest (in Jack's opinion) face when he was annoyed. It **certainly** didn't help when, after three days of gum-stuck shoes, crudely drawn penises on papers and cold buckets of water above doorways, Bunny started to prank him back.

After getting a foul-tasting splash of paint (non-toxic, mind you) in his water bottle, seemingly tripping over nothing four times on his way to class, and 'acciddentally' being knocked into the Culinary class's supply of flour, Jack was highly suspicious of the Australian. Every time he looked, however, Bunny would be nowhere in sight.

As he was walking to seventh period (he should've have been expecting something this time), Jack got a icy bucket of water over the head; He turned in the direction the water came from, expecting to find nothing once again, only to stop with wide eyes, and a blush he could swear was heating the water on his face into steam.

There stood Bunny, who was clad in his usual brown jacket and a sweater (brown today), but with a very nice, very tight pair of jeans that Jack had to physically tear his eyes away from. Bunny held the offending bucket in one hand by his side, and in the other was a towel, extended towards his victim as an offer of friendship. Jack looked up at Bunny's face and nearly swooned, as the Aussie had a smug smile on his lips, his eyes twinkling with amusement and a small sense of satisfaction.

"G'day." Jack snorted, but grinned and started drying himself off with the towel as best as he could. "'Good day' my ass. I feel sticky in places I don't even want to think about." Bunny nearly choked on his laughter, reaching to open the door for the both of them.

"A little too much info, Frostbite. Don't wanna be thinking about those places, 'specially on you." Jack turned his head back to retort while walking under the Aussie's arm to get into the classroom, a grin on his face and no memory of the tension between them.

Today (Friday), while Bunny had on another sweater (forest green, but how many of these things did he own?) and a paint-splattered pair of brown khakis, had stopped Jack before he could walk into seventh, not speaking until the rest of the hallway was empty. Bunny opened his mouth as if to say something, but shut it again, then looked Jack up and down.

Jack looked at him blankly, a little confused, then looked down at himself. He had chosen to dress up a little today, wearing his nicest pair of jeans (though they were a few years old and had gotten a little tight) and a light blue v-neck under his back-up hoodie, which was charcoal with a sky blue snowflake. He didn't look bad, did he..? (oh now he felt like a girl)

"Can I ask... What all that was about, last week?" Jack snapped his head up, obviously having been lost in his thoughts, absentmindedly registering that the late bell had gone off. "Huh?" Bunny looked a little uncomfortable, but clarified himself anyway. "When ya... You were all... Blank. In class?" Jack's eyes widened a bit, swallowing past a bit of panic that had made a lump in his throat. Of course he'd want to know about that.

Jack slapped his trademark grin on his face, though anyone could tell it was fake, and shoved his hands in his jacket's pockets. "Haha! A little early to ask about that, isn't it, Kangaroo? I mean, you haven't even take me on a date yet!" He forced a small laugh out when he had finished his sentence, trying to appear nochalant. Bunny, however, had a startled look on his face.

The Australian dropped his gaze to the floor, muttering what seemed to be a curse and an 'almost forgot', before looking back at Jack. Jack felt his face heat up again, though significantly less than normal, and he thanked his lucky stars he was learning to keep it under control. With what looked like a sheepish smile, Bunny reached a hand up to curl a finger around his hair. "Apologies, shoulda thouoghta that, yeah? Whatcha doing tomorrow?"

Jack let his jaw fall open as his face turned a much darker shade of red. So much for control. "You..w-what..? Did you just.." Bunny smiled wider, a light blush tinting his tan cheeks, turning them more of a rust color. "Well, yeah. I mean, as..." He searched for the right word to say, biting at his lip, and Jack thought he looked twice as hot as he had before (that couldn't happen..could it?).

"As uncomfortable...as I was before with your..._advances_, and whatnot, yer still pretty cute. And..." Bunny blushed a little darker, his voice dropping a level of volume. "Your friends are nice'n all... But ya made me feel more..welcome. Like I'd been here all along, y'know?" Jack nearly swooned, his heart doing a tap dance in his stomach. He vaugely caught himself nodding that he understood, a shy smile slowly lighting up his eyes.

"I'm free tomorrow after my brother's hockey game." Jack took a pen out from his hoodie pocket, and quickly grabbed Bunny's hand, trying not to think about what he was doing. He scribbled his number in messy scrawl on the bronzed skin, then let go and smiled somewhat lopsidedly with his gaze on his shoes. "So...text me? I'll tell you when it's...over."

Bunny nodded, still flushed, but not nearly as bad as Jack was. He cleared his throat (that seemed to be a bad habit) before he shoved the written on hand into his pocket, the other reaching for the classroom door's handle, holding it open for Jack like he usually did. Jack went in first, a little less red than he had been before, then said hello to the teacher.

"Jack, Bunny. So glad you could join us." Mrs. Rain smiled at them, motioning to their seats, marking them as 'present' and 'on time' on her attendance sheet. Jack silently thanked whoever was listening that Mrs. Rain was so laid back. Plopping rather noisily into his seat, Jack gave Tooth and Sandy embarrassed smiles, trying to quiet Tooth's incessant questions of 'what happened, lovebirds?' and casting Bunny a sugar sweet look.

Bunny had almost sat down when he'd gotten that look, and the way he froze in place made Jack wonder if he'd done something wrong, once again. Then, Bunny turned to the teacher, effectively hiding how he was blushing, yet again. "Mrs. Rain, could I go ta the dunny?" After a pause of the rest of his classmates staring at him, Bunny blushed darker and fixed his mistake. "T-the restroom, mamn." Once she had nodded, Bunny took off out of the room like a harpy was on his heels.

Jack stared after him, trying not to laugh at his adorable use of slang (even if it was an accident), until Tooth got his attention by throwing her purple eraser at his head. "Tooth, what was that for?" He let a small pout cross his face, but it was hastily snuffed out with a smile, as he was too excited about going on a date with the Aussie. With a somewhat wicked grin, Tooth motioned with a finger for him to come closer, which he did, while Sandy smiled knowingly and rolled his eyes at her antics.

Jack was finally close enough for Tooth's liking, and she couldn't help but giggle before she leaned in, her mouth next to his ear, and whispered what she knew he needed to know.

"You know he was checking you out while you walked in, right?"

Jack blushed a light pink, a smirk slowly taking over his face.

Bunny 'didn't like prying eyes', but sure as hell loved giving them.


End file.
